From a boy who loves science to CEO of Google

(Baonghean) - Google fans were surprised earlier this week by the news that the world-famous corporation decided to restructure in a very bold way. Accordingly, the Google brand, which focuses on the search engine on the global Internet, will now become a small branch of the newly established parent company named Alphabet Group. The former CEO of Google, Larry Page, will become the CEO of the newly born corporation. And taking over Page's position as CEO of Google is an Indian-American who is only 43 years old: Sundar Pichai. From discovering the wonders that technology can do through an old-fashioned rotary phone to the position of running Android - the most popular operating system on mobile phones, the new CEO of Google has gone through a not-so-short journey.

Sundar Pichai was born in Chennai, India, in a family of four. He lived with his parents and younger brother in a small two-room apartment. The two sons of the family spent their days sleeping in the cramped living room. During his childhood, Pichai did not know the existence of a television or a car in his family, instead, the whole family often had to squeeze into a blue Lambretta scooter or travel by public transport. Pichai's mother worked as a stenographer until she got married and had children, while his father was an electrical engineer who worked at the famous British corporation GE and managed a factory that specialized in manufacturing electrical components and details. It was Pichai's father who inspired and paved the way for his son to learn about technology, through stories and the difficulties and challenges he experienced after a hard day's work. For young Pichai, his first taste of the magic of technology came when his family bought their first landline phone. Pichai was just 12 years old, and the rotary dial phone helped him develop a remarkable ability to memorize numbers. He knew he could remember every number he had ever dialed, but he had no idea how useful that ability would be in the future.

Mr. Sundar Pichai - New CEO of Google. Photo: Internet

In high school, Pichai was captain of his school's baseball team, and under his smart leadership, the team won many regional competitions. His former classmates and neighbors in Chennai recall that he was a rather introverted boy, but he loved science and was always curious about how things worked. A little older, Sundar Pichai studied metallurgical engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur and was considered by his teachers to be "the smartest student in his class." He later won a scholarship to the prestigious Stanford University in the US. To pay for his son's airfare and other expenses, Regunatha Pichai had to apply for a bank loan. When the loan application was rejected, he withdrew the necessary amount from the entire family's savings, which at the time was more than his annual income. Despite the difficulties, Pichai surprised and somewhat displeased his parents when he dropped out of Stanford to work as an engineer and product manager at Applied Materials, a semiconductor company in Silicon Valley. However, by 2002, Pichai had earned an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, while also doing well as a consultant at McKinsey.

Pichai’s big break came in 2004, when he joined the powerful Google corporation and became a member of the research team for Google’s search engine. Not long after, this man was the one who proposed that Google create its own browser, an idea that won the support of almost all of the company’s co-founders, except CEO Eric Schmidt. Currently, according to Adobe, Google Chrome browser holds 32% of the browser market share on phones and desktop computers, showing the success and influence of Chrome on Internet users worldwide.

Another product Pichai worked hard on was Android, the world's most widely used mobile operating system. In 2012, Google released a version of Pichai's Chrome browser for Android, replacing the Rubin mobile browser that his team had developed. Andy Rubin founded Android in 2003 and sold it to Google in 2005, then successfully steered the operating system to keep Apple from dominating the market for the next eight years. By 2013, Page had handed over the reins of Android to Pichai, when Rubin felt he could not integrate Android with the rest of Google on his own. Pichai's rise hasn't stopped there, last year he became Google's chief product officer, overseeing nearly all of Google's software products except YouTube, running the business of Google+, Google Wallet, AndroidPay and Google's Apps, and the annual Google I/O software developer conference, the most anticipated event and where he serves as the face of the brand, announcing upcoming Android and Chrome moves.

Despite his quiet and reserved demeanor, Pichai is admired by Google employees not only for his talent but also because he is well-liked. He is also considered a skillful negotiator and a good team player, qualities that have certainly contributed to Pichai's success today. For Sundar Pichai's native India, his promotion within Google is of great significance. After Satya Nadella of Microsoft, he is the second Indian to become the leader of one of the most important technology companies in the world. Upon hearing the news, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared his joy on Twitter: "Congratulations Sundar Pichai. I wish him all the best in his new position at Google."

Thu Giang

(According to DailyO, IndianExpress)